Kassia

Approximately fifty of her hymns are extant, most of which are stichera, though at least 26 have uncertain attribution. The authenticity issues are due to many hymns being anonymous, and others ascribed to different authors in different manuscripts. She was an abbess of a convent in the west of Constantinople. Additionally, many epigrams and gnomic verses are attributed to her, at least 261. Notable as one of at least two women in the middle Byzantine period known to have written in their own names, the other being Anna Comnena. Like her predecessors Romanos the Melodist and Andrew of Crete, the earliest surviving manuscripts of her works are dated centuries after her lifetime.

• Honorific Prefix — Saint • Name — Kassia • Born — c. 810 • Died — c. 865 • Feast Day — 7 September • Venerated In — Eastern Orthodox Church Catholic Church Anglican Communion • Birthplace — Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) • Place of death — Kasos • Canonized Date — Pre-congregation

Her name is a feminine Greek form of the Latin name Cassius. It is variously spelled Κασσιανή (contemporary pronunciation), Κασ(σ)ία (Kas[s]ia), Εικασία (Eikasia), Ικασία (Ikasia), Kassiani, Cas[s]ia, Cassiane, Kassiana. Modern English-language references to her as a composer generally use the name "Kassia," while references to her religious life tend to use Kassia or Kassiani.

• Illustration — 19th century representation by Valentine Cameron Prinsep of Theophilos' choice Kassia was born between 805 and 810 in Constantinople into a wealthy family and grew to be exceptionally beautiful and intelligent. Three Byzantine chroniclers, Pseudo-Symeon the Logothete, George the Monk (a.k.a. George the Sinner) and Leo the Grammarian, claim that she was a participant in a "bride show"the means by which Byzantine princes/emperors sometimes chose a bride, by giving a golden apple to his choiceorganized for the young bachelor Theophilos by his stepmother, the Empress Dowager Euphrosyne. Smitten by Kassia's beauty, the young emperor approached her and said: "Through a woman [came forth] the baser [things]," referring to the sin and suffering coming as a result of Eve's transgression. Kassia promptly responded, "And through a woman [came forth] the better [things]," referring to the hope of salvation resulting from the Incarnation of Christ through the Virgin Mary. According to tradition, the verbatim dialogue was: "-Ἐκ γυναικὸς τὰ χείρω." "-Kαὶ ἐκ γυναικὸς τὰ κρείττω." Unsatisfied with her response, Theophilos rejected her and chose Theodora as his wife. By 843, Kassia had founded a convent in the west of Constantinople, near the Constantinian Walls, and became its first abbess. Although one view holds that her decision to enter monastic life was motivated by bitterness at having failed to marry Theophilos and become empress, a letter from Theodore the Studite indicates that she had religious motivations for embracing the monastic life. Since monastic life was a common vocation in her time, religious devotion may have been as important a motive as disappointment or the pursuit of artistic renown. Her convent had a close relationship with the nearby monastery of Stoudios, which played a central role in re-editing the Byzantine liturgical books in the 9th and 10th centuries, thus helping to preserve her work. Emperor Theophilos was a fierce iconoclast, and any residual feelings he may have had for Kassia did not preserve her from the imperial policy of persecution for her defence of the veneration of icons. Among other things, she was subjected to scourging with a lash. In spite of this, she remained outspoken in defence of the Orthodox Faith, at one point saying, "I hate silence when it is time to speak." After the death of Theophilos in 842 his young son Michael III became Eastern Roman Emperor, with Empress Theodora acting as Regent. Together they ended the second iconoclastic period (814–843); peace was restored to the empire. Kassia traveled to Italy briefly, but eventually settled on the Greek Island of Kasos, where she died sometime around 865. In the city of Panaghia, there is a church where Kassia's tomb/reliquary may be found.

Kassiani wrote many hymns which are still used in the Byzantine liturgy to this day. She became known to the great Theodore the Studite, while she was still a young girl, and he was impressed by her learning and literary style. She not only wrote spiritual poetry, but composed music to accompany it. She is regarded as an "exceptional and rare phenomenon" among composers of her day. At least twenty-three genuine hymns are ascribed to her. Her oeuvre as a whole demonstrates influence from classical Greek literature, which she studied early in life.

The most famous of her compositions is the eponymous Hymn of Kassia (also known as the Troparion of Kassiani), which is chanted each year for Great and Holy Wednesday as a doxastichon occurring at the end of the aposticha of orthros and the lamp-lighting psalms of the Presanctified Liturgy. Tradition says that in his later years the Emperor Theophilus, still in love with her, wished to see her one more time before he died, so he rode to the monastery where she resided. Kassia was alone in her cell, writing her Hymn when she realized that the commotion she heard was because the imperial retinue had arrived. She was still in love with him but was now devoted to God and hid away because she did not want to let her old passion overcome her monastic vow. She left the unfinished hymn on the table. Theophilus found her cell and entered it alone. He looked for her but she was not there; she was hiding in a closet, watching him. Theophilus, overcome with sadness, cried and regretted that moment of pride when he rejected such a beautiful and intellectual woman; then he noticed the papers on the table and read them. When he had finished reading, he sat and added one line to the hymn; then he left. The line attributed to the Emperor is the line "those feet whose sound Eve heard at dusk in Paradise and hid herself for fear." Legend says that as he was leaving he noticed Kassia in the closet but did not speak to her, out of respect for her wished privacy. Kassia emerged when the emperor was gone, read what he had written and finished the hymn. The hymn’s music is slow, sorrowful, and plaintive, lasting approximately ten to twenty minutes depending on tempo and style of execution. It requires a wide vocal range and is regarded as one of the most demanding works of solo Byzantine chant. It is also performed by choirs in unison, often accompanied by a Byzantine vocal bass drone.

Among the other hymns she composed are the following: • The Doxastichon chanted at the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Christmas Eve • Numerous hymns in honor of saints found in the Menaion (fixed cycle of the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar), such as Feast of the Nativity of the Forerunner, 24 June. • Among her hymns in the Triodion (liturgical book used during Great Lent) are the irmoi for the Matins Canons of Great and Holy Thursday and Great and Holy Saturday. • Her longest composition is a Canon for the Departed, consisting of 32 strophes, to be chanted at a Parastas (memorial services).

Many fictitious stories were created around her relationship with Emperor Theophilos. Contemporary historians such as Glykas, Ptochoprodromos, Kodinos, Zonaras, and Georgios Amartolos described her exile in Italy during the Iconoclasy wars and later settled and died in Kasos sometime between 867 and 890. A fictional version of her is portrayed by Karima McAdams in the 5th season of the television series Vikings. In August 2019, English singer-songwriter Frank Turner included a song told from her point of view on his album No Man's Land.

The feast day of Saint Kassiani is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on 7 September. She is often depicted on the icon of the Sunday of Orthodoxy (the First Sunday of Great Lent), because of her strong defence of the veneration of icons. In 2022, Kassia was officially added to the Episcopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day on 7 September.

Indexed under Gestational Diabetes Research and Management, Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum, Cardiovascular and exercise physiology, Family and Disability Support Research, Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies. Associated with The University of Sydney, Deakin University, The University of Queensland, University of Wollongong. Recorded as composer, poet, hymnwriter and nun.